Source: E! Online
E!'s Marc Malkin interviewed Janet Jackson as she made initial preparations for her Saturday appearance at the latest iteration of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation's (GLAAD) 19th Annual Media Awards. The ceremony this Saturday will be held at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles where emcee Ellen DeGeneres will present Jackson with GLAAD's Vanguard Award.

The gay media group's award gives Malkin a great chance to ask Jackson some juicy (in celeb-interview terms, anyway) questions on gay issues, like why rumors about her own sexual orientation have followed her for years.

She tells him "it's been forever" that she's heard the rumors, but insisted it isn't something that's ever bothered her. "Someone once said to me, 'Doesn't that bother you?' And I was like, Why should it bother me?"

She tells Malkin that the rumors swirl around performers like her, Oprah Winfrey, and Alicia Keys "because it's just that we're strong women. I don't know. Maybe they want to put something else behind it because of the strength. Like, you can't be a woman and be strong, and there has to be something else to it."

Jackson is one of several stars who made a public service announcement for GLSEN and Logo [YouTube video] to combat hate crimes after 15-year-old Larry King was killed in his classroom by another student.

"That broke my heart," she told Malkin. "He was finally coming into his own and being himself and being OK with who he was. He was feeling good about that and not living in this shell and pretending to be someone else. He was letting all of that go and saying, 'This is me.' But being murdered for being who you are, for being real—we were crushed by that."

But Malkin also gets into the really important (in celeb interview terms, anyway) question when he asks Jackson, "What's a good Janet drag queen?"

"They really study you. They truly study you. But you know, they pour it on more, which I absolutely love. They give more than I do and I love that.

"The first time I went to the Baton in Chicago and saw this show, I was with some of my [female] dancers. Afterward, I said to my dancers, 'We've gotta pull up because these bitches are hitting it. They're giving so much femininity and we look like boys onstage.'

"The next night we had a show and we were trying our hardest to ooze with that feminine touch."

So, yes, she admits, Janet herself has at times wanted to be a great drag queen.

"When [late makeup artist] Kevyn Aucoin was around," she told Malkin, "I used to say it would be really fun to do a whole editorial spread in a magazine with me as a drag queen, completely from head to toe. I would love to do that."

But that also gets into the genuinely serious issue about why she's getting the award on Saturday. "I think it's because of the work I have done related to AIDS," she said, "and also just the support that I've given them throughout the years."

It's a disease that affected her early on as her solo career was starting.

"I lost a lot of friends. Friends from the show Fame who I had danced with, some of the kids from Nasty, some of the kids who danced with my brothers who I knew. Makeup artists," she told Malkin.

"I lost a lot of friends to AIDS and one who I absolutely adored so much. His name was Jose, and we worked a lot together in Europe. He would put these eyelashes on me that he would make from real hair. His sister would cut her hair so he could make these eyelashes. They were the most beautiful things. He was so much fun to be with. I had heard he was sick and he was passing, and it was just so sad. It's so sad."

What does she think about gay marriage? Malkin asked.

"I think it should be legalized," Jackson replied. "I think it's about finding your soul mate. It's finding that person you connect with. But most people don't get it right. Look at me! The thing is, I don't know if I ever will or won't get married again. I'm very happy where I am. I just think I jinx marriages, but that's not going to stop me from loving."

Full article: Janet Talks Marriage, Broadway and Drag Queens - Marc Malkin - E! Online